Cushion tire



7 Lm 7 H U Kmm a d 0C 0 .w i F March 6, 1928.

I By ATTORNEY-f.

Patented Mar. 6, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFHCE,

OTTO J. KUHLKE, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE KUHLKE MACHINE COMPANY,

0F AKRON, OHIO, A CORPGRATlON O13 (DI-I10.

CUSHION TIRE.

Application filed March 17,1927. Serial No. 176,043;

This invention relates to cushion tires which are intended for light trucks and similar vehicles, in which the cushloningpropcrties of a solid tire are increased by the presence of cavities'or holes in and through the tire body.

creased and cooling of the tires is secured by the presence of holes in or through the tires, but the provision of these holes has frequently led to premature failure olthe tires because of the fact that ac tion or the tires tended to become localized.

One of the objects of the present invention is to construct a solid tire of the cushion type in which holes pass through the tire from side to side in a diagonal direction so that at no time in the operation of the tire is the entire load supported either upon pillars or over cavities, but is distributed and divided substantially uniformly over the cavities and over the pillars or piers between the cavities. Diagonally arranged holes for this purpose have been shown in prior patents but, to my knowledge, none has been successful, and it is an object of tion to construct a successful t my invenire of this type as will be understood from the showing and description herein. This ap a continuation of so much as is plication is common to my prior application Serial No. 100,593,

April 8, 1926.

The advantages of the constr be apparent to those skilled in uction will this art, it

being understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to exact conformity with the details shown herein, but may be varied and modified within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cushion tire 6r the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan view;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 52 Figure 4 1s a section on the line 4-4 of Fi ure 2' and Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

In the drawings, the body of shown at 1, belng of any pref the tire is erred form exteriorly and being usually vulcanized permanently to a metal rim 2, such as is usual in the art, and either deinountable or not, as found desirable.

The tire is formedvwith a plurality of apertures or passageways 5 extending through the tire from side to side, these apertures being placed in diagonal relationship to the circumferential plane of the tire, and preferably at an angle of thereto, as shown, although this angular position may be varied. The advantage of placing the holes at the angular position rather than transversely of the tire lies in the fact that a load supported on the tire will not be sustained by that portion or the tire in which the intermediate pier is located, or by that portion of the tire wherethe aperture is located, but will be shared by parts of the tire having both conditions, so that as the tire rotates under load, successive'periods of solid and apart-tired tires are avoided. This construction is conducive to easy riding and the upper and lower surfaces of which arein the form of a flattened arch, which is not satisfactory for the support of a solid tire, as the load tends to flatten the arch in any event and this deleterious action is aggravated where the hole is originally in the form of a flattened arch. To obviate this difiiculty and disadvantage which was present in the tires of the prior art having diagonal holes, and yet retaining the full benefit of the diagonal holes in the tire, that portion of each cavity which occupies the central portion of the tire, or lies between its extrenn ities, is, when viewed as a cross-section taken at right angles to the axis of the cavity in the form of an ellipse having its major axis radial to the tire (see Figure When this shaped cavity or recess is viewed along the plane of rotation of the tire as in Figure 3, or transversely of the tire in Figure 4, the cavity or recess is circular, or may be substantially circular, depending upon proportions andso located that the cavityis in circular form, both circumferentially and transversely or radially of the tire. It will be appreciated that the substantial features of the invention may be obtained by so forming and locating the elliptical re cess that while a perfect circular form is approximated when viewed asstated, a full circle'is not shown.

It will also be noted that where the diagonal hole is extended out to the side of the tire in both sides, the'cdges of the aperture in the acute angle generated by the pin will be sharp and liable to, chipping or breaking and, in addition, no substantial support is provided for the pin. It will also be noted ,thatif the elliptical cross se ction is retained to the outersurface of the tire, the hole will appear elliptical. A circular hole at the side ofthe tire is preferable'forthe sake of appearance, for which reason the extremities o the holes are not extended outwardly to the sidesof the tire,but the holes are formed upon arcs as the approachthe side of the tire and are gracually merged into circular form so that the "sides of the tire have the appearance shown in Figurel.

The tread of the tire is formed with any I suitable non-skid tread design, but it ispref- 'erable to have, the "design laid outwith reference tothe locationand direction of theholes. Thus the tread design as shown in Figure 2 is formedof a plurality of 'agonally arranged ribs or barslO which may be located over the cavities, the spaces 11 between the ribs being located over the piers or solid portions 14 of the tire between the cavities. The ribs may be formed with extensions 12 which inergeiutothe side of the tire and the ribs may be connected by short strips 15 which form a central riding strip and prevent premature tread wear and wiping,. By locating the ribs over the holes, any pounding action, due to any unrelicvcd trend over the piers l4, isrelieved.

\Vhat is claimedis: s

l. A solid tire of the cushion type provided with apertures through the body of the tire below the tread, the said apertures in the interior of the tire being arranged diagonally with respect to the plane of rotation of the tire, the diagonal portions of the apertures being substantially transversely elliptical with the major axis of the ellipse extending radially of the tire, and oi such dimensions that an aperture in a radial plane transversely of the tire will be substantially circular, the extremities of the apertures terminating in circular form at the sides of the tires. I

2. A solid tire of the cushion t pc provided with apertures in the body 0 the tire below the tread, the said apertures extending diagonally of the tire, the diagonal portions of the apertures being substantially transversclyelliptical with the major axis of the ellipse extending radially of the tire and, of such dimensions that the aperturein a radial plane transversely of the tire will be substantially circular.

oTTo J. KUHLKE. 

